Sun Queen
by QueenofBloodandTears
Summary: ASOIAF crossover. When Oberyn doesn't lose the trial by combat, Tywin decides to punish him in other ways.
1. Chapter 1

_"Se fuerte hija, recuerda que eres la nieta de Fernando e Isabel y algun dia seras reina" (Be strong daughter and remember you are the daughter of Fernando and Isabel and someday you will be Queen) -The Tudors_

Tyene sighed. How longer? "Where are you going?" Nym asked her. "I am not going to stay here the entire day, our father is out there fighting, I want to know how it went."

"It went fine, obviously." Elia said showcasing a toothy grin.

Gossipy Elia. She reminded their father too much of his lost sister. Nym ruffled their younger sister's head. "Hey!" Elia tried to break free of Nym's grasp but she was too small for her yet.

"I am going."

"Tyene no, father told you to stay."

"Have you ever done what she tells you?"

Nym rolled her eyes. There she goes again with the whole it was all Ellaria's idea. She didn't see what the big deal was. So Ellaria wasn't great stepmother material. Big deal. At least she wasn't a snob like the rest of the women their father dated. Nym liked Ellaria, as the mother of their four younger sisters, she and her siblings loved her. Except Tyene that is.

"You are going to get grounded." Elia said voicing Nym's thoughts.

Tyene gave them a bold look that said see if I care and walked out. She heard a young girl crying and went to see what was her problem but the girl was just rude so Tyene turned the other cheek and kept on with her pace.

On her way to see her father she felt a strong pair of hands on her mouth. She kicked and struggled. Another man came and pressed a handkerchief to her nose and she fell asleep.

* * *

Oberyn kicked the Mountain and slashed his talons but the bastard got him from his foot, in a moment of distraction he had him pinned down with his back against the floor and he felt immense pressure on his eyes. _No! No! Elia! _He failed her! He failed his ancestors.

He bit his tongue, refusing to scream but the pressure against his eyes was building and he could feel his blood trailing down his cheeks. This was it. He was ready to die. _Father ... mother ... stranger ... maiden ... crone ... warrior ... smith ... the unnamed one ..._he begged them to look after his family, especially Tyene. Bringing her to King's Landing had come at a huge risk but he had been assured no one would suspect of her identity. _No one will know._ The spider promised him.

Then he felt himself go light and he felt a great weight off his chest literally and he opened his eyes to see the Mountain fallen besides him and Tywin Lannister with his hand raised up, calling down the fight.

"What is the meaning of this?" Oberyn demanded Tywin smiled at the sore loser. He shifted his gaze at his son. "Lord Tyrion under the authority of the king you are hereby sentenced to a traitor's death. Prince Oberyn your use of poison renders this trial null and void. You and your mistress and your daughters are dismissed from king's landing."

"You can't do this Tywin! We had a deal"

"We did. I am altering the deal, you better pray I don't alter it any further. Ser Meryn escort the prince, lady Sand and his two daughters."

"Two? What have you done with them?" Oberyn screamed throwing his spear in mid air. He didn't intend it to land on Tywin, he just wanted to scare the bastard.

Tywin smiled. His daughter rose from her sit bearing a triumphant grin.

"Answer me!"

"Your daughters are well cared for Prince Oberyn, we have done nothing but your daughter Tyene is on her way to London as we speak."

"What?" Oberyn's eyes widened in horror. Could they know?

"You should have kept her in Dorne where she would've been safe. She is going to marry her stepfather, the king of England or did you think we didn't know who her harlot mother was when she stepped into our shores along with her other siblings?"

Oberyn turned to Ellaria who looked just as horrified. They were both speechless. Oberyn turned to Tywin again and demanded to have his daughter back. But Tywin was unmoved by the younger man's threats.

"You should be proud she will marry a king and a king of England at that, both our countries will have peace and we will have a strong ally at our back with the kingdom itself being rid of a potential threat."

Oberyn opened his mouth but no sound came. After seconds of silence where the rest of the crowd looked at him with pity and mockery he ran to the steps and launched himself at Tywin but he was stopped by his guards. "You son of a bitch! You bring me my daughter back! You had no right doing this!"

"No, you had no right concealing her identity. Take him away and make sure he and his mistress and his two daughters are on that ship back to Dorne as soon as possible."

Oberyn's screams were widely heard even as they took him farther and farther away. Oleana and the Tyrells who had plotted Tyrion's fall so one of their own could be saved from being Joffrey's wife, now they realized their great mistake in not planning ahead like Tywin Lannister. They could have made great use of that girl, she had the blood of Lancaster, Tratasmara, Burgundy and Martell. In the absence of male heirs from Henry's children, she could stand as a potential claimant to both kingdoms of England and Spain.

Who knew that Mary Tudor's mother would have stooped so low as to sleep with the younger brother of the ruler of Dorne? She guessed it was that hot Spanish blood that cursed through the late queen of England's veins. It was said how her father took woman after woman, whether they said no or yes and sired bastards just as easily as her husband did. Oleana chuckled. Like father, like daughter. She had met the queen when she was still married to Henry in her younger years before she had the princess Mary, and she boasted how alike her father she was. It made her wonder then just what she meant by that, now she knew.

She told to Margaery who was horrified at the spectacle but kept her composure. "It seems we have one more ally for us when you and Tommen start having children."

"But you heard the prince, he will never allow his daughter to be married to that man and he killed one of his wives."

"Don't assumed too soon child, the prince will do what he is told once he gets some sense knocked into him by his brother and his brother is not going to be a fool to pass so marvelous an offer up."

"But it isn't right grandmother. She is being married against her will."

"Nonsense. When she sees the pretty gowns and the crown of St. Edward thrust on her head she will forget about all her troubles. You must not trouble yourself with these things child." she put her hand on hers. "Keep yourself concentrated about Tommen, make sure he sees you every day."

Margaery nodded and smiled at her grandmother, feeling thankful for having such a woman in her life. She sent a mental prayer for the Dornish baseborn girl Tyene so that she could get adjusted in her new position.

As women, they had few options. Tyene would have to rely on her beauty and charm, and if what she heard was true, her intelligence too to win the king of England and hope to the gods that she provided him with a second son to keep her position safe.

* * *

Tyene woke. "Where am I?"

"Lady Tyene." Greeted a tall light bearded man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was very handsome and was richly dressed. "Let me welcome you to England, I am the Duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon, the king's personal friend. The king wants to meet you in person, he has been anxiously waiting for your arrival."

"England ... but how?" Tyene asked feeling disoriented from the sedative she was given.

Charles took a good look at this girl, thinking on the best way to answer her so she wouldn't feel too distressed. She looked a lot like the late princess dowager and her sister, the lady Mary. Indeed, if it wasn't for her ringlets of golden hairs that fell down her waist, she and lady Mary could pass of as twins. He gently told her about the betrothal between herself and the king and that in two days time they would marry in the queen's closet at Hampton.

Tyene was shocked. How could this happen? She demanded to go back but the duke told her that was not possible.

"I demand to see my father. He is the only one who can give me permission to marry."

"Lady Tyene your father has no authority here and the lord Tywin has already agreed to this betrothal and paid twice the dowry other princes of Europe offered His Majesty in return to marrying one of their daughters."

"But I am a bastard, he can't marry me!"

"He can and he will." Cranmer appeared at that moment. He curtsied to her and introduced himself. "Forgive the intrusion but His Majesty's arrival is sooner than we expected he is here and he is very anxious to see you my lady."

"Tell his Majesty that I am not interested!" Tyene screamed.

"My lady the king has spent a lot of time planning this, parliament has agreed to recognize you as the natural born daughter of the late princess dowager and your father prince Oberyn."

"I said I am not ... wait, what? What do you mean natural born daughter of queen Katherine? I am the daughter of prince Oberyn and his liason with a septa. Everyone knows that."

"My lady we have been making inquiries to everyone the princess dowager knew and it all fits and your father kept a lot of secret letters regarding her secret pregnancy."

She looked at the duke who avoided her accusatory gaze. No, it couldn't. She thought. She was the daughter of an unknown Septa, her father had said so many times! _But you don't believe it. _No she didn't. She always looked different, even the Westeros people could tell she was different from them. But to say she was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon ...

"That's a lie! My mother was an unknown Septa and you two are lying to confuse me. I want you out!"

"Temper, temper is that any way to talk to your future council lords?" Said a taunting voice. "Pleased to make your acquaintance my lady, I am Sir Thomas Seymour, the king's brother in law. Cranmer, the king is here waiting in the parlor. Your Grace."

The duke did not return't Seymour's smile. He walked past him and left the two alone.

"My lady of Aragon or should I call you of Dorne. You will be very pleased to be the king, he was married to my sister and she made him a happy woman, we are all hoping you can make him happy too and bring him another heir."

"What makes you think I will do that?" Did these men see her as a brood mare? Tyene was the daughter of the prince of Dorne, she bowed to no one and like the words of her house, she would remain so.

Thomas smiled at her defiance. She was a silly little thing, the king had fallen in love with her portrait right away. He had told his brother that the king must have a secret passion for his daughter because the girl looked so much like her half sister except for their hair color but that was a minor difference. "What is so funny?" Tyene asked narrowing her eyes at the insolent man.

"You look so much like your sister the former princess Mary. You will see her after the wedding ceremony, she is very beautiful jsut like you except she is less forgiving." He told her, smiling at the memory of how the former princess had railed at him and Sir Francis when they told that her mother had had an affair with the prince of Dorne and begotten a bastard.

She immediately went into a frenzy and shouted at them that wasn't true then told them to go away but Sir Francis delivered the letters right into her hands proving once and for all her mother, the saintly and devoted Katherine of Aragon, had been a whore.

_And now her bastard daughter will get to marry her former husband who will give him legitimate children who will one day stand to claim the throne if my nephew doesn't have children of his own while her legitimate daughter will remain a bastard and childless._ How ironic.

The majordomo entered the room and announced the king's arrival. Thomas stepped aside and let the king come in.

Henry VIII, a tall and strapping man, red haired sporting a well trimmed beard walked forward to meet his future wife. She looked beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. "My lady, we are deeply pleased with your arrival and we are sorry for any inconvenience you have suffered. Tom bring wine and bread for my lady, I am sure you must be tired."

"Your Majesty I am deeply grateful for the care you have given me but please, I ask you as a humble subject would to return me to my home. My family is all I have and my father must be heartbroken to know I am gone. Please I must get back to them." She said shedding tears, hoping this would move him but she was about to be disappointed.

Henry smiled and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "My lady Tyene, your family will be very happy once they know you are well provided for and nothing would make me happier than to give you what you want but alas, I must consent to my country's wishes and my responsibilities as your guardian. You see before your true mother died she asked me to look after my own and she didn't mean your sister, my daughter Mary but you as well. As a married member of my family, I am your legal guardian and it is my decision that you stay here."

Tyene's face fell. She felt a huge knot in her chest as she looked into his eyes, searching for any way she could convince him otherwise but his mind was resolute. "

"Sir Thomas show lady Tyene to her chambers and tell the seamstress to make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

Tyene's eyes widened in alarmed. So soon?

Reading her expression he said "The kingdom is in dire need of an heir and everyone is curious to see their new foreign bride, we haven't had one since your mother married my brother."

Tyene was escorted to her chambers by Sir Thomas, they stayed silent the entire time. For the first time Thomas didn't have anything funny to say. He felt the girl's despair as the king told her that she would never leave this place and as her legal guardian he could do with her whatever he wanted.

For a brief moment he was reminded of his sister Jane who was horrified when her father and brother Edward told her that she had to seduce the king in order for their family to rise. Her family was up and coming and she had ambitions of her own, but to seduce the king and turn him away from his faithful wife was too much. But there had been a vital difference between Tyene and his sister. Jane in the end capitulated and agreed to his father's wishes because she wanted to be queen just as much as the next girl and because she had always been close to her family and she had a strong desire to see them the first family in England. Jane's sacrifice had cost her her life, he hoped for the girl's sake that it wouldn't cost hers as well. She was only what? 16? 17? From what he remembered in the council's latest reports.

"Sir Thomas?"

"Yes my lady."

"Do not call me lady. I am no lady and I will not be until tomorrow. I need to know about my sister ... is she ... does she ... will she like me?"

"I think so my lady. She looks just like you."

"That is not good answer Sir. I need to know the truth, will she like me or not?"

The younger Seymour brother could tell she was not a woman who liked flattery, so he chose to give her the truth. "No, my lady. But you must not let that distract you from your future duties. Regardless of her feelings for you or yours for her, you will be queen and she will have to bow to you."

"Thank you Sir. You are dismissed." She said and with a last smile he turned around and left her.


	2. Chapter 2

"_I am not a man but nothing but a barrel in this wasteland" ~Anonymous._

_"What about what I want? I want those who've hurt me to be brought up to justice" ~Oberyn Martell_

Tyene struggled against the men holding her down. She didn't want to marry the king of England. She wanted to go back to Dorne to her family was, it was where she belonged. The King had to calm her down breaking custom not to see the bride before her wedding, before they dragged her to the altar.

She spotted her sister Mary sitting there with a crossed look on her face. Next to her was a three year old girl she guessed must've been the lady Elizabeth. She looked less apprehensive but no less unsure of this new girl who was going to marry their father. She waved her hand in a small gesture of friendship as the priest began his long sermon but the girls turned their faces away.

Well two can play that game.

Tyene returned her attention to the archbishop hosting the ceremony. She had been present for king Joffrey's wedding to the beautiful Margaery Tyrell. The walls of the great sept were lined with pink carnation roses and white ones at the pillars to mark the importance of the Tyrells. Her father hated the Tyrells with a passion -even though he was great friends with the heir Willas. The Tyrells always blamed the Martells for his accident but it wasn't her father's fault. It was a jousting match, accidents happened. Her father won that match fair and square and to be honest, the Tyrells were not so honest themselves putting their prized golden boy on a mare who was in heat.

Henry snapped his fingers at Tyene. Tyene looked at the archbishop who'd finished his sermon.

Tyene knew what she had to say but the words fell out flat from her mouth. "I do."

The archbishop gave his customary nod of approval and pronounced them man and wife. As they headed to the banquet ceremony, Tyene felt a strong pair of eyes at the back of her head. She turned briefly. Her sister Mary's eyes hardened as the younger girl made eye contact with her.

Tyene sat at the king's left while his brothers in law and his ministers sat on his right. She had to bear the presence of the king's two daughters next to her. She tried smiling at them, engage in conversation but they always laughed at her, whispering in each other's ears how bad she looked.

She gazed down at her dress. This was one of the few dresses her kidnappers brought with them when they took her to England. She didn't like the European fashions with all those wide skirts and extra jewels. She loved to have her arms and neck seen, otherwise what was the purpose of showing off?

She was are many ladies looked at her with great envy. Just who was this bastard, they thought, who won the king's heart and had the boldness to wear these types of clothes that made her look like a harlot? Then again -some whispered- her mother was a harlot. The greatest they ever knew. She had fooled all of Christendom into thinking she was a pious lady but she was just like the rest of the serpentine women who roamed her husband's court.

Tyene looked down at the locket around her sun and spears belt. She unwrapped the chain and opened it. Her father had trusted his brother with this locket and her uncle had given it back to him saying it was too much responsibility for him to keep and he didn't want to clean up his brother's messes anymore. His father had considered giving it to Ellaria but then thought against it and finally he kept it locked in his secret drawer where he thought no one would look.

All those times he caught him looking at it, wondering what was he saying; she never had a chance to look inside.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her sister's whose angry voice made Tyene look up. "Where did you get that?"

"What? This. It's just a useless trinket my lady, nothing more."

"It's not a useless trinket and it is not my lady to you, my sister and I were princes before our father decided to replace both our mothers for younger women." Namely you, she left unsaid.

"I am deeply sorry my lady, this would never happen in Dorne. Our laws are better towards women."

Mary chuckled and said sarcastically "So I've heard." She sipped more wine from her cup then turned to Elizabeth who was also eying her.

"Are all girls in Dorne dressed like you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not all my sweet lady, some of us dress like these because of our fathers are noblemen. My father is the prince of Dorne, second born son of the late ruling Prince. I have a little sister who is your age, you remind me a lot of her."

"Really? Because you don't remind us of anybody we know, isn't that right Bessie?"

Elizabeth nodded then pointed smugly to the pearls around her neck.

"Those are very beautiful, who gave them to you?"

"They were my mother's, nobody gave them to me. I don't have any recollection of her except when she said goodbye to me. My father, Edward, and Mary are all the family I have now."

"I am deeply sorry but I don't see how is that my fault." Tyene said knowing what the girls were thinking.

"My father's late wife chose to restore Mary to favor then she and my sister convinced my father to bring me back, she gave us gifts and made us feel welcome again. What are you going to do to win our favor my lady?"

"I- I … I don't know. What would you like me to do?"

Elizabeth thought hard on that then that answer came and she said: "A golden locket just like the one you have with suns and spears."

"I don't think that's a good idea Elizabeth. I am sure lady Tyene won't like to have her prized possession taken away from her."

"But she said everything I wanted and I want *that*" She pointed to her necklace.

"My lady your sister is right. This is the only thing I have from my country and it belonged to my mother." At this Mary's eyes darkened. She snapped the locket from her fingers and looked inside. Just as she suspected. The harlot born prince and her mother with another lady at the opposite side she didn't recognize, staring back at her.

Tyene took it from Mary and said to Elizabeth "This is all I have of her. I can't give it to you."

"But I want it." Elizabeth insisted.

Tyene tried to convince her she couldn't but it was a losing battle. Luckily her sister Mary came to her rescue and distracted Elizabeth with an amusing tale that made the little girl laugh and forget about her stepmother's necklace.

Tyene looked inside the locket. It was the first time she did. She suppressed a gasp when she saw her late aunt staring back at her, her laughing self petting a baby tiger, the one she guessed her father presumed so much about that he gave her when she married prince Rhaegar. Besides her at the other end was a miniature portrait of her real mother Katherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess whose fairy tale was well known and whose end was very tragic. She looked just like her and Mary but her hair was a lighter shade of auburn than her older daughter's and her face was far kindlier. Her father was next to her, a separate picture of him, smiling proudly.

A tear fell from her cheek. She wiped it with her handkerchief. Long before Ellaria's arrival, he had been all she and her three sisters had. He was both father and mother to them. They owed him everything.

* * *

The consummation night came -and she wished to think- went but Henry was adamant to show everyone that he was still young and able to so after the archbishop blessed their bed, he sent everyone away.

Tyene stared numbly at him. Contrary to what people said of her in Dorne and Westeros, she had never been with a man. Sure, there were lovers but all they ever did was kiss and caress each other, nothing more. Her cave was still intact.

Henry advanced to her. He took off his chemise and his breeches now he commanded her to do the same but Tyene shook her head.

"My lord-"

"Henry, I am your king and husband now."

"Henry. I am your late wife's daughter and your daughter's sister. Everyone remarks how much I look like her and it's true, if you proceed with this it will look like incest. Return me to Dorne and this will never be spoken of, you and I can go our separate ways and I will even recommend you to my cousin Princess Arianne."

"And why would I want to marry a stuck up princess when I can have the daughter of my Spanish concubine?"

"She's your wife, the mother of your children, you said you loved her."

"I said many things. I married the Spanish infanta out of duty because my father said it would bring prestige to our house but our marriage was wrong in both the eyes of men and God and now I speak for the latter so my word is as good as His."

"But it's not right."

He chuckled. "What is right and what is wrong? What words a few lawyers say or theologians in their endless debates?" He took another step forward.

Tyene remained firmly opposed.

"Tyene you are not being reasonable, I am your husband but I am also your king and I can raise you just as I can lower you." His voice rang with frustration.

"You won't touch me." Tyene said forcibly, grinding her teeth as he continued to make his way to her. "I am the daughter of prince Oberyn, if he finds that you took me without my consent he will push a spear right through your chest."

Her words angered him and he slapped her. She fell to the floor clutching her cheek. He raised her up and threw her on the bed where he spread her arms and pinned her back against the soft mattress.

"Your father is dead, if he's lucky he is alive and on a boat back to Dorne. I could have killed you both-"

"I'd like to see you try." Tyene said defiantly shooting daggers from her eyes. Henry slapped her again.

"Be quiet! You should be grateful I didn't find out about your existence before or I would have surely killed you then." He laughed cruelly. "Your mother swore undying love to me when she married me but then she run off with your father and had a child behind my back! Now the tables are turned on her, I am married to her daughter and her daughter is bound to me." He ripped her chemise.

Tyene continued to fight him but he subdued her and pressed his weight on her. "No … don't you dare!" But it was too late, Henry thrust himself upon her and Tyene screamed as she felt her womanhood being pierced by his large shaft.

"Ah!" Tyene struggled to keep herself sane through this whole ordeal. She remembered her father's song and started humming it as he kept on thrusting …

* * *

The next morning Mary found her stepmother naked on her bed crying with scratches on her arms and legs. "What do you want?" She asked her cruelly.

"Come to gloat? Laugh at the bastard? Your wish came true…" Tyene hid her head on her knees. "I want my father …"

Mary felt terrible. But she couldn't spare sympathy for the poor girl. In the last decade she had seen her father become from the loving husband to a terrible tyrant who didn't think twice on abandoning and murdering his wives. Oh, he killed her mother. He didn't cause her illness or poisoned her as she and Chapuys were ready to believe of him or the concubine of the time, but he did worsened her health when he sent her to the More and then to Kenninghall under those terrible conditions. Her mother was forced to live in a state of near-penury with only a handful of maidens, among them her loyal friend Maria de Salinas, helping her survive. And in the meanwhile her father paraded his new mistress and made her wear the crown jewels and even had the gall of calling her his queen of hearts when he and Anne visited her (then) baby sister Elizabeth. She had forgiven Anne for all of her misdeeds. She had suffered and paid for her sins but not her father. That murdering bastard had killed two of his wives and barely mourned his third one after she passed away giving him what he desired the most in the world: a son.

Now he was married to none other than his late wife's bastard daughter, the woman he had convinced himself was not his wife but his royal concubine and he relished in the thought of parading his new whore in front of everyone and just like Anne calling her his wife.

_How long before she gives him a daughter and he tosses her away like garbage or cuts off her head?_ If she had a son, she would surely die. Tudor mothers didn't fare well when it came to childbirth. Her grandmother Elizabeth of York was always weaker after each pregnancy with the last resulting in her death.

She hoped the bastard would die then they would put this episode far behind them and she could go on living with the good memories of her mother, unblemished by her birth. But just then she heard Tyene mumble something intelligible and took a knife from the platter of food that had been brought to her that morning after her husband left in hopes that it would calm her down but all it did was make her angrier and she lashed out at the servants that if they ever came near her again she would kill them. She thrust the cold steel against her skin and blood started to flow.

Mary rushed to her side and took the blade from her hands.

"No let me die! I want to die!" She tried to break free but Mary's arms were safely locked around her. "Let me go!"

"Not until you heart what I have to say."

"I don't want to listen, I know exactly what you will say. Bastard, whore monger's spawn, you think I haven't heard what you and your lot say of me? You and the rest blame me for your mother's reputation. I never met my mother, my father swore she was a septa who died giving birth to me, I never believed it. I knew he was protecting me from her true identity but I never questioned him. I wish I had not gone to King's Landing. His mistress told me to stay but I didn't listen." She laughed madly. "She always said my tongue would get me into trouble. I should have known better. Go ahead, kill me. Kill the girl who stained your mother's reputation."

"Don't be foolish, I couldn't kill my own blood."

"You said so yourself, your father moves from young to younger and takes whatever woman he can find when his current one doesn't satisfy him. To think my uncle wanted him as a spouse for my cousin."

"You mustn't upset yourself." Mary said thinking about what her father said months earlier about a Dornish marriage offer.

"I mustn't? I just got deflowered by your father, you and the rest of the English court mock me and you take my only chance of freedom away, how am I supposed to feel?"Tyene demanded.

Mary was at a loss of words. She should hate this girl, her mind told her she should but her heart reminded her of the bond they shared because of their mother. She nestled her head against her chest and cradled her like she was a newborn.

"My father swore he would protect me, many men in Dorne wanted my hand in marriage but I always rejected them."

"You didn't want to get married?"

"Of course I did, but on my own terms."

"But wouldn't your father be upset you rejected so many good men?" Mary asked. She hadn't been keen on the prospect of marriage herself but as she grew she realized it was her only option out of the hell she was living being maid to her sister Elizabeth and her mother Anne Boleyn.

"My father was the one who told me I could marry whoever I want when I wanted."

"Your father told you that? But … why? Wouldn't he want you to be married to someone respectable?"

Tyene laughed. "My father taught all of my sisters self-reliance, he said we could have our little affairs just as long as they didn't cause any major embarrassment on our family and our hearts were in it."

"Did you…"

"No. Of course not." Tyene said. "There were men but all I did with them was kiss and touch, I never slept with any of them."

"So you are a virgin." Mary said and looked down at the blood stained sheets which were proof she was telling the truth.

"Was. Thanks to your father I am used goods, even if he divorces me who will want me in Dorne now?"

"I am sure there are many noble men who will." Mary said trying to cheer her up.

Tyene shook her head. "I tried so hard to fit in. Everyone said I looked different, I never let it get to me but then my father started having more children and Ellaria became his chief mistress."

"I am sure he still loves you. If he went through all that trouble to look after you and your sisters and keep you hidden from my father all this time." Mary said relating to her sister's pain. She also felt pushed out when her father met Anne Boleyn and then had children with his new wives.

She loved Elizabeth and Edward but she always felt different with them, Edward was just a baby but he would be a child of the reformation just as much as Elizabeth and like her he would soon see her as old and outdated.

"I am never going going to see him again, am I? He will make this my gravesite until I give me another heir."

"Bullocks!" Mary said surprising even herself. "Your father's family is renown for their fertility, if you give him a son he could allow you to see them again."

"You really believe that?"

"I do." She said and wiped her tears and helped her dress.

When she emerged she was dressed in a gown of blue stain, her arms covered by fur sleeves, a golden chain in place of a leather belt with her locket safely attached to it, and around her neck a ruby necklace that belonged to Mary.

Henry asked her if she was feeling better. Tyene nodded.

"I brought you this Your Majesty." Elizabeth said, more affable than yesterday.

"Thank you my lady, they are beautiful." She handed the bouquet of flowers to one of her maidens.

* * *

Oberyn raged at the ship masters. He demanded to turn the boat around. "My lord prince we have strict orders from lord Tywin Lannisters-"

"I don't care about lord Tywin's orders. Turn the ship around!"

"My lord"

"Turn it around I say!"

"My love, don't fight this, you will only get yourself killed. Let's wait until we are back in Dorne then we can discuss this." Ellaria hoped she would settle the raging beast in Oberyn.

Oberyn sighed in frustration and kicked the bucket of spit next to the captain and went to his cabin.

Damn the Lannisters! First they took Elia's children now his own! He would not let this go.


	3. Chapter 3

_"My sister Elia loved him and beautiful and noble Rhaegar Targaryen left her for another woman ...That started a war ..." ~Oberyn Martell_

_"You saw her beauty not the Iron underneath."~Ned Stark_

Mary gazed down at her baby brother. She told lady Bryan that she would leave for the country after her late stepmother's funeral but now she wanted to stay. Edward had been sick and his health had alarmed everyone. Thankfully he was ok now. "Can I come in?"

"Sure. You might want to meet him someday, that is if you are still idle to the idea of being a mother." Mary told her half sister the queen.

Tyene held the baby in her arms. "He reminds me of my father's only son."

"I thought you said he only had daughters including yourself."

"He did but …"

"Oh I am sorry."

"Don't be, my father was very proud to have a boy but prouder still to have the rest of his daughters in perfect health. When the plague hit Westeros it hit badly and his former mistress and child died in each other's arms." She smiled down at Edward. "He reminds me a lot of him."

"What was his name?"

"We didn't name him. My father does not believe in naming his children until he is sure they will live."

"But what about baptism or whatever it is you have there?" She asked trying to be the most sensitive to her sister with whom she knew was not a Christian like the rest of her new subjects.

"We beileve the gods have a better place out there, when we die our souls go there, if we are good then good awaits us, if we are bad then the gods will punish through our descendants or force us into a limbo, what you here call purgatory."

"It is very similar to what we believe." Mary said. "What will you name your child if it's a boy?"

"I am not sure, I would prefer a girl. I have always grown around girls and the strongest woman I know besides my older sisters is my cousin Arianne. She will be ruler of Dorne someday."

"You could name your daughter after her or Alice, it is similar to her name and it will cause you less trouble." She was cut by her sister's crude laughter.

"I am not worried about what the rest say of me. It's not like it will make my situation better and mayhap if I have a daughter I will return to Dorne."

That was rather unlikely and she knew that but Mary said nothing for fear it could upset her.

* * *

In his dreams Oberyn killed every single Lannister, man and woman who had caused his family so much pain. Tywin, the great lord of Casterly Rock told his lacky, the corrupt priest Pycelle to open the doors of the Red Keep then when the mad king went to get Tywin Lannister his son killed him. That family was nothing but oathbreakers, king slayers, traitors, and gods knew what else. He had tried convincing his brother to rally their troops and march in favor of the new king -since Rhaegar and his offspring were dead- Viserys but his brother told him it was unwise and Oberyn was forced to stay behind enemy lines, watching as the person he most loved in the world was killed. He relived that day every night, in his dreams he stared down at him from her place in heaven, accusing him of cowardice. _I am not a coward!_ He yelled but not matter how many times he justified himself to her, her ghost always came back with another rebuttal. _You knew Tywin Lannister would betray our house, you stood by as he and that whore monger Petyr Baelish amassed great wealth and stabbed us in the back._

But he wasn't the only one Elia blamed. Doran was haunted by her ghost too but he was too weak to admit it.

Doran gazed down at his broken legs. He could barely stand unless he was helped by his majordomo and his two other assistants. He was a disgrace to the house of his ancestors and his kingdom. -Arianne said. What did the girl know? The girl who would inherit his domains was so anxious to see him die. She had been schooled by Oberyn as the rest of his daughters, and as a result was impulsive and thought that everything could be solved by the stroke of a sword or luring one of their enemies into her bedroom.

"The blood oranges are well past ripe." The prince observed in a weary voice, when the captain rolled him onto the terrace. Oberyn followed sighing an exasperated breath.

He did not speak again for minutes. He stared off into the horizon at the great Dornish sea that crossed with the Atlantic making them the only province closer to England, Spain and Portugal and just about any other European kingdom. Oberyn waited enough for his brother to talk. He made a signal at Hotah.

"What is it brother?" For a long while only the sounds of the children splashing in the pools and fountains, were heard and once a soft plop as another orange dropped onto the terrace to burst. Then, from the far side of the palace, the two brothers heard the faint drumbeat of boots on marble.

_Obara_. He knew her stride; long legged, hasty, angry. Oberyn turned to his older daughter. Obara Sand always walked too fast. _She is changing after something she can never catch. _His brother told him once, in his daughter's presence.

When she appeared beneath the triple arch she made a mock curtsy to her father then to her uncle Doran. "You too come to punish me I suppose."

"Not punish you, lecture you. How long has it been since Dorne was renown for its fierce fighters? Since when do we bow to those dirty Lannisters? One of our own was taken captive and no one has moved a finger to bring her back, why is that?" Obara Sand demanded in her usual rough voice. She was the eldest of Oberyn's daughter, a big boned woman near thirty, with the close set eyes and rat brown hair of the Oldtown whore who'd birthed her. Or so Oberyn told the rest of his countrymen. Who knew what his brother said was true, it could be a lie and she could be that noblewoman's daughter for which he was exiled. But his brother never questioned Oberyn, he was well past the age to worry about his brother's liaisons.

"Obara now is not the time." Her father said but she waved her hand in a dismissive and mocking gesture that spelled her thoughts out clearly. "

You are both cowards. Where is the great Oberyn who swore he would get justice for his dead sister?"

"Do not go there girl."

"My sister is kidnapped and forced to wear that crown with a bastard now in her belly that bastard king squirted in her and you stand here next to your useless brother and do nothing?" She demanded. "Ha. Some fighters you are."

"A bird came to tell us of the incident before your father and his mistress and your two sisters came. I did everything I could to bring your sister back but by the time our raven got there she was married and already with child. There is nothing we can do but pray that child is a boy and bring the king of England into our fold."

"Fold? What fold? Our enemies are against us and they are growing in numbers. You do nothing uncle but sit here and ponder about old times. Just what game do you think this is?" She turned to her father. "You said you would take care of her and the first thing you do is leave her and my sisters alone."

"She wanted to come to King's Landing and I could do nothing to assuage her temper, you know how she gets when I say 'no' to her."

She took out her spear and threw it at her father's feet. "There it is a spear, what you told the woman who nursed me for the first five years of my life after you came from your long exile. Take it you, you said and live the life of a warrior, love, life, fight for Dorne. In the septs, the temples of the red priests, the unnamed god, everyone is talking, women are crying their eyes out wondering what will Doran and Oberyn, the great warrior of Dorne do? _What will they do to recover our lost daughter_."

"Obara your sister was not well known by every priest, neither was she interested in religion like your younger sister Sarella so cut the false stories."

"They are not false stories father. Everyone is talking." She picked up her spear. "If you two do nothing then by the gods old and new I will." She said then was stopped by her uncle's voice which was tired and soft as it had always been since his sister's death.

"It was not so long ago that you were one of the children in those pools, Obara." He smiled at the children playing below. Obara watched her youngest sisters, Ellaria's daughters, girls of five, nine, six, and ten playing with the boys, splashing and shouting at each other in high, shrill voices.

"You remember don't you Oberyn when you brought Obara to our house and you declared to me and Elia that you were going to look after her and she would be raised as if she were a princess trueborn."

"I remember." Oberyn said, lost in thought as he imagined himself in the boys and girls' places, reminiscing about his childhood with Elia when it was they who played in those pools.

"How time passes by quickly. Your father and I joked about my death, he and your aunt mocked me that I would be the first to die, we came into this world old to youngest and that is how we would irony in that."

"Speak no more riddles old man. What do you mean to do about my sister's kidnapping?"

"There is nothing I can do. She is Queen now and very soon she will be crowned as two of her predecessors and enjoy the fame and luxury they once did." The prince turned his chair laboriously to face her, he waved his hand at Oberyn telling him he could do it himself.

"That is a lie. He has killed one of his wives, the first -her mother- died abandoned in some old palace and the third died delivering the male child he wanted."

"That, I know." He said with a painful voice that equally mirrored his eyes.

"I have written to her husband-"

"What?" She turned to her father again. "You let him do this?"

"I am not the ruler of Dorne Obara, I can't do nothing when it comes to your uncle's foreign policy."

"You mean you don't want to." She gave a crude laugh. "The impossible has happened, Oberyn Martell has been cowed by the miserable lions."

"Look at the children play Obara. I command you. Look how happy they are, the princess Myrcella is with them and she will marry my heir after Arianne and Quentyn, Trystane. Just look how happy they look."

"I don't want to look. You two have made a mockery of your House and you." She pointed her spear at him, it was so close to his face that she needed to move it only one inch and it would go straight into his head. "You are the worst of all for breaking your promise. I swear I will never forgive you for this." And with that she left.

Oberyn closed his eyes. It was not so long ago that he held Tyene in his arms. Doran knew who her real mother was, he had written to him of his liaison with queen Katherine -when she was still queen- and he had added how it was vital that everyone believed that she was the daughter of the septa he had disgraced in his younger years. No one would believe that story, Doran told him. But it was a worth a try, Oberyn replied. They went along with the lie and for the past seventeen years he watched Oberyn nurture and tend to that girl, raising her as one of their own. In Dorne's eyes she would never be one of their own, her fairness always set her apart from the other girls. Dorne had queens whose skin was fair because they were foreign but gold and auburn hair always yielded to black, and their eyes were seldom inherited by their offspring. Tyene was an exception. Doran loved her like the rest of the sand snakes, he told Oberyn that the sooner they married her to one of the Dornish nobles, the sooner people would stop talking but Oberyn refused. They were his daughters and far from being Dornish, they were individuals who would marry and love on their own terms.

_Oberyn always spoils his daughters too much._ He used to say. He pushed these old thoughts away and concentrated on the matter at hand. "The king of England will expect us to name one of our own as godmother and godfather for his son."

"If she has a son." Oberyn said.

"If she does." Doran agreed. He rolled his chair. "Tyene met royalty when she was five years old, the same age you brought Obara to our shores. She knows how to behave and if she is your daughter she will eliminate her rivals the same way you did with her mother."

"I never killed her priest."

"No? Everyone said you did." Doran said taking another bite from his orange, sucking the juice quickly before it spilled from his lips. "What was it that made you lose your mind for her? You have never been a one man's woman, what was it about her that made you abandon everything, even your common sense?"

Oberyn didn't answer him right away. He still asked that question himself every day.

"It wasn't her beauty. You've had many women in your short life, from every walk of life and you have always hated Europeans, you said they were too uptight and arrogant. Was it her red hair? No? Can't be that, then was it something else?" He threw the left overs, they fell on wet ground. "You have always been a romantic at heart, was it the child she gave you, beautiful Tyene?" When Oberyn remained silent, Doran said: "I knew it. Tyene might have been an outsider here but she had the shape of your eyes and your fiery spirit. You always loved that and of course her sarcasm which we all have had to endure." At this they laughed.

"Is it true what you told Obara? Have you really written to the king of England?"

"No, I was expecting you to do it. As her father, it is your duty to express how happy you are for her."

Oberyn shook his head vigorously. He wouldn't.

"You must. A future king of England who is half Dornish and a quarter Spanish will have England and the empire in the palm of our hand."

"And then what?" Oberyn demanded. "Assuming your theory is correct, what will happen after the two Targaryens find each other?"

Doran gave a smile, a full smile, the first his brother had seen in a long time. "I am weary brother, help me to my chambers."

* * *

Varys had many little birds. One of those little birds monitored the English court and told him all about the new queen and how well she had taken to her sister, including her two younger stepchildren. This was not what Varys had expected but it didn't interfered with any of his plans.

* * *

Tyene heard the news from King's Landing with glee. The pieces were set. Her father's revenge was complete, Tywin had been poisoned and the people of Westeros were too stupid to second guess who had poisoned him. Cersei and her family thought it was the 'imp' Tyrion Lannister who was now on the run for running his arrows through his father's dying form.

Tyene could not help herself. An open smile appeared on her lips. She wished every Lannister would suffer the same fate. She would never forgive them for what they had done to her and her father. Her hands descended to her swollen stomach. In one month she would enter confinement, a stupid custom these Christians believed was necessary, and deliver her child. Whether it was boy or girl it didn't matter. For her it would always be Henry's child.

* * *

A totem of her father and mother she had secretly commissioned stood next to her vanity. Nobody came to her chambers except her ladies and they were deadly afraid of her. She was not known for her kindness and fake smiles like their previous queens, including her true mother. She said what she felt whenever she wanted and she was not afraid of the consequences. What could Henry do? Strike her down when she was carrying his male child?

She raised her arms up and prayed to her ancestors, the mother, maiden and crone to deliver her of this ordeal as soon as possible and for the child to be born healthy. She didn't care about its sex, she just wanted to be rid of it and give it to its wet-nurses once it was born.

* * *

Thomas Seymour knocked on the queen's chambers. He was greeted by her half sister Mary. "I came to deliver a message from his Majesty. He wants to know if she is done all right."

"Her Majesty is doing fine Sir Thomas. You can go now, I will deliver his Majesty's letter to her." Thomas grinned at the older sister, she looked happier like he remembered her when his sister was queen. He winked at her and Mary seemed slightly offended but it didn't bother him.

He loved this new positive outlook of hers and her rejection of him only made him want her more interested.

-o-

**A/N: I am mixing book and show canon and some of the dialogue has been taken from Feast for Crowns, the fouth in a song of ice and fire saga. Tyene is played by Sarah Bolger just blond and same goes for Mary but she has the same look as she did in the tudors. Please leave a review. Tyene has finally made Mary and Bess warm up to her but will it last? Find out next chapter xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**My suggestion is you read this chapter with the song below by Birdy.**

* * *

_"God knows what it's hidden in those weak and drunken hearts,  
Guess he kissed the girls who made his queens of misadventure  
God knows what it's hiding in those weak and sunken lies  
Fiery angels of muted angels giving love but getting nothing in return,_

_People, help the people  
And if you are homesick, give me your hand and I will hold it.  
People, help the people  
Nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had to break  
I will be cold as a stone and turn my heart away ..._

_God knows what it's hiding in this world of little consequence  
Behind the tears inside the lies  
A thousand souls and dying sunsets  
God knows what it's hiding in those weak and drunken hearts,  
Guess the loneliness came knocking us down._

___People, help the people  
And if you are homesick, give me your hand and I will hold it.  
People, help the people_  
_Nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had to break  
I will be cold as a stone and turn my heart away ..._  


___People, help the people  
Nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had to break  
I will be cold as stone and rich as the fool that turned those good hearts away." ~People Help the People by Birdy_

_____"It was my hope to strip him of all he most held dear before killing him." ~Doran Martell_

"I was the oldest," Doran started as Maester Caleotte and Hotah helped him climb the steps of the tower of joy. They had reached Sunspear before dawn. Doran had many bitter memories about this place. Here was the place that Lyanna Stark died. The place where his late brother in law condemned his sister to die when he chose to protect her instead of his lawful wife Elia. "and yet I am the last. After Mors and Olyvar died in their cradles, I gave up hope of brothers. I was nine when Elia came, a squire in service at Salt Shore. When the raven arrived with word that my mother had been brought to bed a month too soon, I was old enough to understand that meant the child would not live. Even when Lord Gargalen told me that I had a sister, I assured him that she must shortly die. Yet she lived by the Mother's mercy. And a year later Oberyn arrived, squalling and kicking. I was a man grown when they were playing in these pools. Yet here I sit, and they are gone."

"Your brother still lives my lord prince." Maester Caleotte said.

"He might as well be dead. Since his daughter was captured and sent to England he does nothing but speak of vengeance. I had to convince him, nearly going on my knees not to do something foolish. Elia was so much like him. They always had to have their way." He said in melancholy.

Areo Hotah did not know what to say to that. He was only a captain of guards, and still a stranger to this lands and its seven-faced god, and had to get used to all of these new reforms that his master supporter (_but oh wait_, his mind reproached him, _you mustn't think that_). Even thoughts as dangerous as those can show through one's eyes when one is thinking them, his master told him. "Back in Norvos Areo, when you were young, did you have brothers or sisters?"

"Both." Hotah said. "Two brothers, three sisters. I was the youngest."

"Good for you, I know what you must be thinking. It is a burden to be the youngest, unwanted and uncared for but you were free to make your choice and me, I hardly had any choice after my fathre decided I was old enough to start my training." He gave a long tired sigh and his face fell.

"My prince" Maester Caleotte was at his side at once.

"Enough, it is enough, leave me Areo. Maester Caleotte find my daughter and tell her to join me at the palace. It's time."

Nymeria Sand caught him on his way to the palace. She looked graceful, dressed all in shimmering lilac robes and a great silk cape of cream and copper that lifted at every gust of wind, and made her look as if she might take flight. Nymeria Sand was twenty five and slender as a willow. Her straight black hair, worn in a long braid bound up with red gold wire, made a widow's peak above her dark eyes, just as her real mother's had. She was every bit the beauty her sister Obara wasn't but that was because Obara's mother had been an Oldtown whore or ugly noblewoman if his theory of his brother's exile was correct, while Nym's mother was of the noblest blood of old Volatis. A dozen mounted spearmen tailed her, their round shields gleaming in the sun.

Her uncle had tied back the curtains on his litter, the better to enjoy the breeze blowing off the sea and to keep people from watching and realize that their prince was as they suspected, a tired, old man.

"Well met uncle" She said, "May I ride with you to the royal palace?"

"I would be very glad of it." Doran replied though he did not sound glad to Nym's ears. "Gout and grief make poor companions on the road."

"And don't forget disappointment." Nym added for him, feeling every bit as tired as he was but she was too proud like her father, to let it show.

_She too must blame herself or Obara did, for her sister's kidnapping._

"Is it true that my sister has delivered herself of a duke of York for her so called husband?"

"So we hear but reports can be misleading. They said the same when her mother showed off her big belly the first time she was pregnant with her husband's son, later daughter, and later it turned out nothing."

_I should go there._ Nym thought.

Oberyn could see what she was thinking through those dark troubled eyes of hers. "Tyene will be fine, she is at the mercy of the best doctors and an army of midwives with her. If she has not yet been delivered, she soon will."

_Spare me the riddles uncle, please._ "What news is there of King's Landing?" She asked hoping the new topic would take her mind off her sister. "Lord Tywin promised us the Mountain's head before he died, it still hasn't come. It must be old and withered by now."

"It will come." Doran assured her. "A Lannister always pays his debts." He reminded her. They were finally here. Nym got down of her brown horse, she and Hotah helped him to his chair.

The settled on the great hall where many courtiers paid their respects to their prince and said their good wishes to Nym, hoping she would be delivered of a fine prince soon.

"Obara would have me go to war with Oldtown and your father is growing more impatient." Doran suddenly said.

"Yes, I have heard." Nym said laughing. "She always hated that city as much as our little sisters love it."

Nym glanced down at her armed companions. She made a signal that told them they were dismissed. "I was abed with the Fowler twins when word reached me and you know their words? _Let me soar!_ That is all I would ask of you uncle. Let me and my sweet sister soar, we need no mighty host, just your trust."

"Obara is too loud, everyone would lock their doors and hide their women and children the minute they see her."

"I know. If Tyene were here it would be her. She is so sweet and gentle that no man would ever suspect her. Obara will make of Oldtown our late aunt's funeral pyre and one large enough for Tywin Lannister, for all the wrongs he's done to us, but I don't care anymore."

"Oldtown has never wrong us and what you want is revenge not justice."

"Isn't that enough?" Nym asked. "We have let the Lannisters step on our backs for too long, it is time we do something uncle."

"And we will Nym but like I told your father, we must wait."

"We have waited twenty years." Nym sat next him on the high table. "I have never asked you for anything in my life, me and my sisters love you and our cousins and we are devoted to you, we would die for you."

"I would not wish to see that. You and your sisters have your whole lives ahead of you. Live and live well and when the time comes" _If it comes_ -he thought "Fight well"

"We would fight now. Just give us the order. Four heads for four Martells."

"Your father is still alive."

"I am talking about my sister."

"Oh."

"Tywin's golden twins for payment for Elia's children, Tommen for Elia and Myrcella for my sister."

"The boy has never wronged us and the girl is betrothed to your cousin Trystane."

"They are bastard born of treason, incest, and adultery. Only royal blood can wash away their sins."

"You speak like one of the red priests."

"There is power in king's blood uncle." She said, her playful tone vanished from her voice.

"Your sister is married the king of England, soon she will be delivered of a fine prince, if she doesn't, the child will still be healthy and the king will keep her close until she gives him a son. When she does she will be crowned to leave no question of her children's legitimacy. The previous consort was not crown and therefore it can be argued her son will have no right to claim the crown of St. Edward when his father dies."

"He still has uncles." Nym reminded him.

"Easily bought." Doran said ordering his servant to bring them wine. "When your father went to King's Landing with you, Ellaria and your sisters I told him 'find us friends, if there are any to be found. Learn what you can of Elia's end, but see that you do not provoke Tywin Lannister '. You know what your father said to me?" Nym shook her head though she could guess, knowing him very well. "He laughed and said 'when have I provoked any man … unduly? You would be better to warn the Lannisters against provoking me.' He wanted justice for Elia but he would not wait-"

"He's been waiting for twenty years." Nym broke in putting her silver cup down. "Were it you they'd killed, my father would have led his banners north before your corpse was cold. Were it you, the spears would be falling thick as rain upon the marches now."

"I do not doubt it." He said. "Your father always saw himself as the protector of Elia and me after I became sick, but revenge Nymeria is a dish best served cold and as the Starks once said 'winter is coming'."

* * *

Tyene screamed from the top of her lungs. "You are doing fine Your Majesty, the baby is almost out."

Tyene was going to slap that old hag. Nobody knew the pain she was in and the doctors refused to touch her because their faith, Catholic and Protestant, said a woman was unclean during birth.

_Idiots._ Another wave of pain hit Tyene and she screamed louder.

Mary and a select other ladies were there with her, helping her sit up or holding her hands as she struggled to free herself of her burden.

_Damn it! Gods damn it!_ She wanted to be free of this bastard already! Her eyes pierced the head midwife as she smiled and told her, her ordeal was almost over. _Almost. _

The doctors backed away from her venomous stare. Doctor Butts had been in Dorne where he had met very interesting people, those blue pools of hers reminded him of her father, though the viper's eyes had been black as night. _All of his daughters have his viper eyes._ Butts realized. _Color does not matter._

Her gown was one of pale blue salamite with Myrrish sleeves, a gift from her uncle Doran who congratulated her on her pregnancy. It was now stained by blood and vomit.

Finally after three long hours of struggling, screaming, and wishing to be rid of _it_, _it_ was finally born.

"What is it?" Came the tired reply.

Mary and Jane Boleyn, lady Rochford looked anxious as well. "A girl." The head midwife replied. They hung their heads low, feeling shame and disappointment for their mistress and queen.

"A girl?"

"Yes Your Majesty."

Tyene's lips trembled. "Send someone to inform His Majesty." She ordered. Jane Boleyn volunteered. Tyene watched her go then shifted her gaze to the tiny bundle who had been cleaned and swaddled in fresh linen. It began to cry, reaching her tiny hands at the midwife's face, searching for any features similar to hers.

"Give it to me."

'_It'_ That was how it was going to be then. Mary's sister would always see her sister as an unwanted burden, a thing that had been imposed on her by her despised husband.

She opened the linens her daughter was wrapped into and stared at her face. The minute she did, she looked back at her. _Grey eyes_, Tudor eyes. She snorted, how stupid she was. Here she was, thinking she could love _it. _But then the unexpected happened. Her daughter pushed the blankets covering her small head, and Tyene saw traces of black hair like her father's and her skin was also olive oil like his.

The little girl raised her arms at her mother trying to reach her face, Tyene brought her closer and felt her little hands on her lips. _She is my daughter._ She pushed her dark forehead against her lips, giving her a light kiss.

The doors swung open. Henry was displeased to find out he had yet another daughter. _Daughters! Daughters that is all I have! _He yelled but as soon as he saw them, both healthy and filled with vigor, his disappointment was erased. "How is the child?" He asked Doctor Butts who had left the room briefly after they clothed the queen in a new nightgown and changed the bloodstained bed-sheets for new ones.

"Her Majesty and the princess are doing fine my lord." He said bobbing a small (and late) curtse for his master. He thanked the midwives and physicians, then dismissed them and ordered to be alone with his wife.

"How are you faring?"

Tyene did not meet his eyes. She would see disappointment. _These Christians like their Westeros counterparts think that the male line is all that matters, they don't know the strength of women. _She said in a kind voice: "I am doing very well Henry." Then nestled her daughter close to her breast and seeing what she was about to do as she pushed her nightgown down, he intervened. "Queens don't do that."

He called on the appointed wet-nurse to take the child away. Tyene watched the old matron take her daughter away. She could be no more than thirty but she looked older. "You will be expected to be present at the christening, I will send Cranmer to inform you about the details." _And Cromwell too._

"And what about my father, will he not be allowed to come? He is the princess' grandfather, he _must_ be allowed to come." She said in the gentlest way possible. She moved to stand but he raised his hand.

"I have already chosen the godfathers and godmothers, they will be your uncle and your cousin prince Doran and princess Arianne. Arcbhsihop Cranmer and Mary and Elizabeth will stand as the other two godmothers."

"And my father?" She asked, her voice ringing with alarm. "Your promised me he could be godfather to our child. You said you would allow him to come-"

"I said no such thing." Henry said gruffly.

Tyene closed her eyes, a huge knot formed in her throat. She opened her eyes and with a determined voice she said: "He will have to come, my uncle is old and frail, he can barely walk and a trip could endanger his health even more."

Henry smiled sardonically at his teenage wife. He sat next to her. "I have already made plans for that, you cousins, princess Arianne will come and her brother Quentyn will stand in his place."

The mention of her cousin reminded her of what her sister said earlier in the month about naming her daughter. "When you are well we can discuss her name-"

"I've already chosen a name."

Henry looked intrigue and motioned her to continue.

"Alice. I want her to be named Alice."

Henry stayed silent but a smiled graced his lips at last. He liked the name, it reminded him of his old tutor's wife who had recently died after her own daughter from her previous marriage before Thomas, had died and left her no grandchildren.

"Alice it will be then, it is suitable."

* * *

Mary held her little sister in her arms. The christening would be in one week, the Dornish ships carrying her sister's royal relations were already on their way. They would be here before the end of the week. Elizabeth entered the nursery room. It was as clean as Edward's and lady Bryan as always was left to supervise everything.

"Is that our new sister?" Elizabeth asked. Mary nodded, still cradling Alice in her arms. "When will we get to meet her aunt and uncle?"

"Soon." Mary answered. "Do you want to hold her?"

"I don't know, can I?" Elizabeth asked anxiously extending her arms.

"Yes but be careful, she is quite heavy." Elizabeth promised she would and she handed their sister to the little girl.

"She has her mother's smile and your own Mary." She exclaimed with an open smile their baby sister imitated.

"Yes she does." Mary said speaking her thoughts aloud of how her mother would carry her when she was a child and play near the fountain at Ludlow her father had built for her.

"My mother loved playing too, do you think we can convince father to play with Alice once she is older?"

"I am sure he won't need convincing." Thomas said interrupting their private moment, a smirk on his lips and a twinkle on his eyes as they set on the older Tudor princess.

"Sir Thomas, what are you doing here?" Mary asked, Elizabeth cringed at her tone. She wished her sister would be more amicable. Just because half the court did not follow the religion of their forefathers, did not mean she had to be so mean.

The youngest 'Seymour answered her in a jesting voice "Your father sent me my lady, he wishes to know how his daughters are getting along with his new one. It looks like you two are quite taken with the princess. Has the queen named her yet?"

"She has. Her name is Alice." Mary said quickly, looking away from him, hoping this would take his attention away from her but it only increased it. He stepped forward and offered to hold the little princess.

Mary was hesitant. "Do you have experience holding babies?" Mary asked in a mocking voice.

"As a matter of fact I do." He looked down at the lady Elizabeth. "I help my baby sister Dorothy when I was only twelve."

"That is nothing, I am four and I have held my baby sister."

Thomas laughed. "Yes that is surely something, but if my lovely ladies allow me to prove myself to you."

Thomas gave a sideways to Mary, giving his trademark grin.

Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. Mary was playing difficult again. "Let him do it Mary." She said and hoped that would make her sister come to her senses.

Mary's grey orbs pierced Thomas green-blue ones. It was the first time she noticed his eye color. _The color of the sea_.She handed her sister to him.

She was surprised to hear how calm were her sounds when Sir Thomas rocked her back and forth, softly until she fell asleep. I told you I had experience with children. She glanced down at the sleeping face of her sister. She never looked so peaceful, except the first time she had been placed in her mother's arms.

"With you permission" He said , "It is my time to leave. Until we meet again lady Mary, lady Elizabeth." And he left.

Elizabeth giggled.

Mary looked at her. "What's so funny?"

"He likes you."

"No he doesn't."

"Yes he does. You should ask our new stepmother lady Tyene to intercede on your behalf, maybe she can find a marriage for me too."

"Bess you are too young to start thinking about marriage, you should focus on your studies." Mary said.

"But I was a princess just as you were, and bastards or not, we are still daughters of a king, he will have to marry us someday to continue the Tudor line."

"Only boys maintain the Tudor line Bessie, we just do as we are told."

Elizabeth shook her head and with an open smile, she said joyfully at Mary "I don't think so."

* * *

"A faint star."

"The North star." Captain Denyo of _Titan's Daughter_ said.

"Why do they call it that?"

"Superstition girl. Some call it _star of home_, others _star of demons_, the Europeans for some reason call it _North Star_. They believe it is proof their god exists."

"There is only one god." Arya said stubbornly. _And his name is death._

For a heartbeat she let herself pretend that the star was her guiding point to home, Winterfell. She missed them. All of them. Even her sister Sansa. But she was now in the Vale and from what she heard, waging a war of her own. _Sansa, the same Sansa who called me Arya underfoot, Arya horseface, is now facing hardships worse than she could've ever imagined. _And she was getting good at it, otherwise she would not have lasted this long. She thought about her father and what he said of far away lands. She used to dream of visiting them all, especially the Western cities of Europe, encounter the savages who burned their people for something as little as adultery or disbelief. Arya wanted to see the thrones of the Christian kings and meet the sultans of the Eastern lands of whom it was said, possessed the greatest knowledge in the world. _Or farther into the East where emperors lived in palaces the size of entire cities and clothed in gold and silver with crowns so heavy that some whisper they had to wear equally heavy clothes to balance it out._ Arya didn't know if any of this was true, but she wished it was because what an adventure that would be!

But that was _stupid. _Her home was gone, her parents dead, and all her brothers slain but Jon Snow on the Wall. She would never get to see those beautiful places, never have great adventures. Her face fell. She told the captain she wanted to go to the Wall but he said that was impossible then she showed her the coin and pronounced the fateful words _Valar Morghulis_ that sent her here.

_Bravos might not be so bad. Syrio was from Braavos, and Jaqen might be here. _ It was Jaqen who had given her the iron coin. He hadn't truly been her friend, the way that Syrio had been, but what good had friends ever done for her? _I don't need any friends, so long as I have Needle._

If truth be told, Arya did not know what to wish for, any more than she knew what awaited her beneath that distant light. _Perhaps it should be called Illusion. How many men has it not fooled into thinking they will return to their homes? _Arya did not have time for dreams, she needed answers, she needed purpose. In Braavos she would resume her training and, she hoped, become one of the water dancers Syrio boasted much about. In time she would become a warrior like the legendary Nymeria, her name alone would strike fear in her enemies.

When they docked, Arya was the first to get off. She went searching for the house of the unnamed god. That was where Syrio said he'd trained before being recruited by her father. On her way there, she saw stranger knights carrying unusual banners. She got closer but one pushed her roughly. "Go boy! Make way for His Majesty-"

"King Tommen?" She asked, anxious. The carriage looked nothing Cersei and her remaining son would ride in, but with the death of her oldest son, she was forced to take precautions. This had to be one of them. Arya's hand went to her belt. _One strike, _that's all she needed. _An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. _She had lost three brothers, a father, and a mother, and how much had Sansa lost too? They needed to pay, she would not kill Cersei until she watched how she drove her sword through young Tommen's heart.

Unfortunately for her, her hopes were dashed when the captain of the guards said in a loud, gruff voice. "No you stupid boy. King Henry Tudor of England, this is his carriage, in the name of His Majesty, defender of the faith, is Sir Francis Bryan representing him."

"But why the golden lions?"

"The lions are the symbol of England, they'd always been since times immemorial now beat it you are blocking our path."

Three golden lions on the top right and bottom left and top left and both right were three fleur de lis, the symbol of France. She wondered why. Then she remembered her history lessons with Maester Luwin. Arya hardly paid any attention, Sansa in contrast the perfect little lady did. Out of the few lessons she could remember was the history of England. England had been in a long war with France claiming ownership of that country, the war amounted to nothing except a few territories that cost England too much to maintain. _After all these years, they still insist to call themselves kings of France._

She heard some of the soldiers speak in Latin, a language she was fortunate she had been taught by Septa Mordane and her mother, who to the end of her days tried so hard to make her a lady like she did with Sansa.

"_The King is asking us to travel to Braavos to borrow more money."_

"_The Italian banks won't finance him but the Iron Bank will as long as England keeps filling its coffers with the gold from the monasteries."_

"_Cromwell is the best thing that happened to him, I tell ya. Not even Wolsey was that astute over the church."_

"_Wolsey was a man of God."_

"_Man of God? Don't make me laugh! A mistress and two children. He was a disgrace to everyone, including His Majesty, why else do you think he banished him from court. Good riddance I say."_

So another king who sacks septs or churches as they're called there, to make himself richer? By the sound of it, this king was no better than the brotherhood of the broken banners, the brave company, or Cersei. She walked to a building, it was taller than the rest and uninviting, but it was not the grim outlook that drew Arya to this place. It was what it represented. _The Holy Refuge. The Temple of the Unnamed god. Of the god of a thousand faces._ It was where Syrio studied and the place where Jaqen trained too.

Silent as a shadow, Arya moved between rows of long stone benches, her sword in hand. The floor was made of stone, her feet told her; not polished marble like the floor of the Great Sept of Baelor, but something rougher. She passed some women whispering together. The air was warm and heavy, so heavy that she yawned. She could smell the candles. The scent was unfamiliar, and she put it down to some queer incense, but as she got deeper into the temple, they seemed to smell of snow and pine needles and hot stew. _Good smells, _Arya told herself, and felt a little braver.

In the center she found a pool ten feet across, black as ink and lit by dim red candles. Beside it sat a young man in a silvery cloak, weeping softly. She watched him carefully. He dipped a hand in the water, sending scarlet ripples racing across the pool. When he drew his fingers he sucked them, one by one. _He must be thirsty. _There were stone cups along the ring of the pool. Arya filled one and brought it to him. The young man stared at her for a long moment when she offered it to him. "Valar Morghulis." He said.

"Valar Dohaeris" She said.

He drank deep and dropped the cup into the pool with a soft plop.

The he pushed himself to his feet and clutched his belly.

"You're stabbed." Arya exclaimed.

The man shrugged and looked indifferent. _All the people here, _she noted, _they are either dead or dying._

Another lost soul gathered close to him and took water from the stone cup the man had thrown away. It was a woman, twenty years of younger. Her hair was disheveled and her skin was fair, the fairest she had ever seen. _She can't be from Braavos._ Around her neck was a crucifix. _A Christian._

Her eyes looked older, full of pain and her face twisted with grief. "_**Aqua."** _She said in Latin then muttered incoherently, joining both hands together in what she guessed was a prayer to her god.

A hand touched her arm and she spun away but to her relief it was only a little girl.

"Don't grab me." Arya warned her pushing her away, nearly throwing the hood from the black and white robe she wore. "I killed the last boy who grabbed me last."

The girl said some words that Arya did not know.

"Don't you know the common tongue?"

A voice behind her said, "I do."

The hooded man was tall, enveloped in a larger version of the black and white robe the girl was wearing, beneath his cowl all she could see was the faint red glitter of candlelight reflecting off his eyes.

"Who are you?" Arya asked apprehensively, her hand going to Needle.

"There is no need for your weapons here child. We are not your enemies."

She did not look convinced. Her eyes never left the man. "What place is this?"

"A place of peace." His voice was gentle. "You are safe here." He repeated. "This is the House of Black and White my child. Though you are young to seek the favor of the Many Faced God. We have been called many names, only the faithful know the name of this place."

"Is he like the southron god, the one with seven faces or the Trinity god of Western Europe?"

"No. He has faces beyond count little one, as many faces as there are stars in the sky. In Braavos, men worship as they will but at the end of every road stands Him of Many Faces, waiting. He will be there for you one day, do not fear. These souls," He gestured to the two broken people on the ground, drinking as much water as they could. "have come hither to be at peace."

"But they are dying."

"Aye, they are but in death they shall find the freedom they never were allowed in life. You are young however and do not need to rush into His embrace."

"I only came to find Jaquen H'ghar."

"I do not know his name."

Her heart sank. She was so sure. "He was from Lorath. His hair had one stripe of white on one side and the rest was dirty brown. He said he'd teach me secrets and gave me this." She showed him the iron coin.

The priest studied the coin, though he made no move to touch it. The wai with big eyes was looking at it too. Finally, the cowled man said. "Tell me your name child."

"Arry. I come from the Trident."

"No," he said and though she could not see his face, somehow she could feel him smiling. "Tell me your name."

"Squab."

"Your true name child."

"My mother named me Nan, but they call me Underfoot-"

"Your name."

She swallowed. "Arwen. I'm Arwen."

"Closer."

"Arya." She whisperd the word for the first time in three long months since she had left the hound for dead after that man-looking woman Brienne of Tarth and her squire tried to coax her into joining them so they could take her to the Lannisters where they would surely execute her or use her as they'd used Sansa.

"Arya of House Stark." She finally confessed.

"You are but the House of Black and White is no place for Arya of House Stark."

"Please, I have no place to go." She said looking deep into his dark pools but the man in spite of his softened features, wasn't moved by her pleas.

Then something changed as the waif whispered something. "Do you fear death Arya of House Stark?"

"No."

"Then this is your place then." He removed his cowl and it revealed a very old and decrepit face. "You will be safe here. No one has ever tried to come here unless they are looking for something. Are you hungry child?"

_Yes, _she thought, _but not for food._ Her thoughts were interrupted by the snorts of the Christian woman besides the dying man. Something in her expression looked familiar, Arya couldn't figure out what though.

* * *

A cold rain was falling. The princess Arianne with her silver clad knight, Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard, and her brother, prince Quentyn, arrived three days late, but not late for the christening. Thank Gods, the siblings said. They were greeted by the king's chancellor, Audley and the king's master secretary and lord treasurer, Sir Thomas Cromwell. "Your Highnesses welcome to England, it's our pleasure to have you here."

"The pleasure is all ours Sir Thomas." Quentyn, ever the charmer said, winning the ladies lined behind his cousin. They brought a hand to their mouths.

His foreign looks, together with his clothes was a magnet for these European girls.

_Giggling fools._ Arianne came after, greeting the Chancellor and the king's secretary in a similar voice, but her kindness looked more forced ; Cromwell knew at once he had to keep his guard up around her.

"Cousin." Arianne said. Tyene embraced her, taking her time to feel the soft fabric of her dress, Myrrish lace and Dornish silk, and heard the clank of her golden and ruby necklaces around her neck then gave a stronger hug to her second cousin Quentyn.  
"You never looked bonier, are they feeding you or are you still doing those silly walks of yours?"

"You know I love exercising, it keeps my mind occupied."

"Yes I know, you and Sarella used to show off all the time to me and Quentyn. It's funny how you always wore a paper crown around your head and now look at you, queen of England."

"Not yet." Tyene told Arianne.

Arianne understood and inquired about the little princess.

"She is in the nursery with her older brother, prince Edward." Tyene informed her. "You can't see her until the christening … rules here, you understand." Tyene explained, keeping her voice soft and her expression as amicable as possible. In Dorne she was known for dissimulation, it was why no one trusted her, those who did not know her did only to find out the painful truth too late.

Arianne's father, prince Doran,lectured her about how calm her soft her cousin was compared to her. _You could fare better learning from her example. _But what her father failed to notice, what _everyone_ failed to notice was that Tyene was still a Sand Snake. _Oberyn's daughter_. Impulsive, reckless -_more_ reckless than her- and with her same sarcasm that always got her uncle in trouble. She searched around the room, looking for their royal host.

"He is not here." Tyene answered following her gaze. "His Majesty is not yet back from Yorkshire." _Squashing another rebellion._

"Pity. I would've enjoyed such a meeting. Sir Thomas, you were kind enough to receive us, I don't suppose you will just leave us standing here without letting my cousin give us a personal tour of the castle."

"Of course not, Your Highness, but first you must get settled to your new apartments-"

"Leave that for later our kingsguard Ser Arys Oakheart and my septa can take care of the arrangements. We came here solely for my cousin, I don't want this visit to be for nothing." She linked her arm around Quentyn's then with her other one around Tyene. "Let's go, I want to see these famous maze you spoke of in your letters. It better be worth it."

Tyene grinned. Her cousins were back, and together they were like the three legendary errant knights whom they loved reading so much about, inseparable and invincible.

Mary and Elizabeth looked at each other in confusion. They had never seen a royal pair so strange and aloof of royal custom as those two. _But then again Dornish royals are not like other royals_, they thought.

Thomas Cromwell felt very annoyed, he exchanged a look with Thomas Cranmer who shook his head in dismay. The Seymours on the other hand thought this very amusing, especially their youngest member. She had never seen a woman so forward and direct as princess Arianne.

"Things certainly got more interesting." Anne Stanhope whispered to her husband, sharing a smirk with her sister in law, Dorothy Seymour. She glanced at her former lover, her brother in law, Thomas, his attention as of late was focused on the lady Mary.

_What does he see in her?_ She wondered. She was pretty, very pretty, but she was not an extraordinary beauty like the rest he'd bedded. _It could be he sees the queen in the little minx._ That had to be it.

* * *

Oberyn got word from his niece and nephew. Enclosed was a small roll up painting, a miniature of his daughter Tyene dressed in the finest clothes he'd witnessed. She reminded him of Katherine and Elia. _She also loved to dress in fine clothing_. Everything from furs, hats, earrings and pearls.

_Elia … _Rhaegar claimed he loved her, swaddled her with furs, coin, jewels but what her heart most desired he couldn't give to her. He _loved_ another. _And that started a war … _A war that ended with her death. _Elia loved those children, she gave him everything and Rhaegar still treated her like she was nothing. _He preferred that wolf maiden over Elia. Arianne told him how his daughter held his granddaughter when she had been placed in her arms, it was the same look, she wrote, that he spoke of when Elia held her children. _She would not let the wet-nurse touch them._ But his daughter had no such luck. Henry Tudor like the late Robert Baratheon would not give his golden haired wife any freedoms until she gave him a son. _And even then she will still be his prisoner._


	5. Chapter 5

_"Old man look at my life _  
_I am a lot like you were_  
_Old man look at my life_  
_Twenty four and there is so much more_  
_Living along in a paradise that makes me think of you_  
_Love lost such a cause_  
_Give me things that don't get lost_  
_like a coin that won't get tossed  
__rolling home to you  
_  
_Old man take a look at my life_  
_I am a lot like you  
I need someone to love me the whole day through  
Come on look at my eyes and you can tell that's true_

_Lullabies look into your eyes  
going around the same old town  
Doesn't mean that much to me  
does it mean that much to you?  
I've been first and last  
look at how the time goes past  
But I'm all alone at last going back to you_

_Old man take a look at my life_  
_I am a lot like you  
I need someone to love me the whole day through  
Come on look at my eyes and you can tell that's true_

_Old man look at my life  
I am a lot like you were" ~Old Man by Neil Young  
_

Cersei brooded over the news, it should've made her happy, Oberyn's daughter proven as useless as he; but the last sentence in the letter _she is happy_ sent her reeling. Bloody Martells. They never stopped punishing her. She threw the letter into the fireplace watching it burn slowly until it turned it ashes. There was something in the flames that made her eyes sparkle and her lips twist upwards into a smile. Since she had lost her father, she had never felt this happy. What was it the mad king did to traitors?Burn them? She sipped from her golden cup. She imagined the Tyrells burning, screaming, pleading for their lives, especially Margaery.

She ate a simple supper of beets and bread and bloody beef with red wine to wash it all down. The color red reminded her of the her son's bloody tears. _Joffrey …_ She had warned Jaime, their brother would be the death of them but he didn't listen. No one ever did. Now their father was dead and he was loose. _It will only be a matter of time before he kills all of us. _She took a bigger sip and pushed her dinner plate aside; her servants took it away.

She had paid mercenaries to find him, so far they had come up with nothing. The king of England who enjoyed his new mare, offered her his help by sending men of his own to search for her brother but they too had come up with nothing. _Fool. _Cersei said to herself. _I give him his late whore's virgin daughter and what does he give me in return?_

This was the last time she would be generous, if the king wanted her help he would have to bow down to her demands, just like everyone.

She wasn't expecting company but the doors of her chambers opened to reveal her uncle.

"Uncle, what a pleasant surprise. Please sit, there is still enough food for you to enjoy."

"I did not come here for the food Cersei, you know that so let's cut the pleasantries and save us some time." He said. "You need a Hand and Jaime I gather has refused you."

_He is blunt. Very well. _Cersei had need of such men. "Jaime is gallant but a fool, Tommen needs a more seasoned man. Someone older …"

"Mace Tyrell is older and so is the king of England, your recent ally."

Her nostrils flared. "Never. The Tyrells think too much of themselves, Mace is a bigger fool than my brother and the king has not been true to his word in finding my son and father's killer."

"You would be a fool to make the former your Hand," Kevan admitted, "but a bigger fool to make him your foe and even more with the king of England."

"He has failed to find my brother."

"Your brother is long gone Cersei, if he hasn't drowned already, he surely will die very soon. How long can a man as friendless and scarred as he survive in this world?"

"He has ways. You don't know him uncle, he will kill us all if he could"

"Aye if he could but he won't." Kevan suddenly looked more tired. "You want Mace out of the way, it is done, but be careful not to alienate him, he has powerful friends and his bannermen will rally for him at the right price which right now they hold the upper hand in that too, in contrast to us."

"Is it true our last mine has run completely dry?"

"So our captains say but we have plenty on reserve and there are always other mines that have yet to be explored, we still have many years ahead of us before we completely run out."

This made Cersei feel relieved. Returning to the matter at hand she said, "What would you do as Hand with the Tyrells?"

"Me? I would make Rosby master of coin. You've seen that litter of his, with its carvings and silk draperies. A man that rich should have no problem finding gold." Kevan said and Cersei agreed with him, she had been thinking the same thing.

"So you agree?"

"I have not agreed to anything yet."

"Please uncle, who better to help me rule than you who shared all my father's counsels?"

"Every man -or woman- needs someone he can trust. Tywin had me, and before that your mother."

"He loved her very much. I know they are together now." Cersei said thinking of her mother's last words to her. _Dry those tears little one, have you ever seen a lion cry?_

"So I pray." Then he added, "You ask too much of me, Cersei."

"No more than my father did."

"I am tired. I have a wife I have not seen in two years, a dead son to mourn, another son about to marry and assume a lordship. Castle Darry needs to be made strong again and Lancel is too inexperienced, he needs my help."

"As does my son." Cersei said strongly. "The realm needs you."

"The realm, aye, I know and House Lannister …" His voice trailed off and mumbled something incoherently then he stopped and poured himself some wine. "Very well. I will do it, I will remain here to serve your son."

"Very good," she started to say but Kevan raised his voice again and stopped her.

"So as long as you name me regent and take yourself back to Casterly Rock and stop this crazy quest for your brother."

Cersei blinked. For a heartbeat she could only stare at him. She thought she had been hallucinating but sitting in front of her was her uncle, adamant and suddenly defiant as he had ever been. She rose. "I am the regent."

"You were but your father did not intend you to continue in that role. He told me of his plans to send you to Casterly Rock after Jaime refused to abandon the white cloak, he wanted you to marry and provide him with more heirs that would place his possessions in their hands instead of Tommen."

"I know of his plans and I told him no."

"That is not your decisions to make. As queen you must do what is best for your son." Kevan said firmly. "Go back to the Rock, rule it as its lady and wed Ser Willas."

"Marry the cripple? Are you making fun of me? I am not some broodmare, my place is here with my son."

"Your father thought not."

"My father is dead, you are all that is left of his old glory. If you have any common sense, you will serve me faithfully as you served him."

"You are not your father and you are fooling yourself if you think you are, your father regarded Jaime as his heir, when he refused to be seen in that light, the rest of us convinced him to make Tyrion your heir, anyone we said but you." _Never you._ Was his clear meaning.

"How dare you … the imp over me? I am the true lion's daughter, the only one worthy of being his heir, I am queen regent!"

"You are queen not regent. No one in their right mind would make you regent after they saw the brilliant work you did with Joffrey. Tommen is safer with someone who is sane and cares for him."

She grabbed her cup and threw the wine in his face.

Kevan said nothing, he rose with a ponderous dignity and gave a mock curtsy. "Your Grace. With your leave, might I withdraw?"

"By what right do you give me terms? You would be nothing without my father, you are nothing more than another household knight."

"It's true, I hold no major lands but I have certain incomes and true dignity, something that is so foreign to Your Grace." He took a piece of cloth and wiped his face. "I served your father and I will serve you under my conditions, otherwise you are free to deal with your enemies at your own expense. Good day Madame and my best regards for Tommen and" he added softly, "his father." Then he left.

* * *

Mary entertained thoughts of joining her half sister and her Dornish cousins. They looked to be having fun, splashing at each other and chasing after one another as they ran through the maze. The three of them were lucky her father was not here, he would see such conduct unseemly. She wished he would not be back for another month. His leave and the prince and princess' arrival had sparked in Tyene something he had not seen in her: happiness.

Mary spun around. Her brother and sister were on the floor, playing. Edward was really receptive to Alice. When her father tried to set them apart, Edward had cried and hit his nurse's chest violently, refusing to drink her milk or be still. Alice was the same.

Lady Bryan made sure that the two were well taken care of. Alice was a gentle child who like Edward when she was in his company, never gave his governess and governor any trouble.

Lady Bryan was made aware of Mary's presence by her heavy foot stalls, and greeted the young woman.

"How are they faring?"

"Both are doing very well. Her Highness Alice grows heavier every day and so does His Highness Edward."

Mary was glad to hear that. She asked to pick up her brother. Lady Bryan let her. Edward was less heavy than Alice but since her arrival he had begun gaining weight and a healthy coloring started appearing that had not been there before. _He looks so much like his mother._ So very little of her father in him. _Save for his eyes._ All the Tudor children had his eyes, even Bess, while hers were her mother's, dark brown, their shape was their father's. She gave her brother an indulgent smile and kissed his forehead then set him down again to play with his sister, princess Alice.

"You should have children."

Mary smiled gently at the older woman.

"You have a mother's touch."

"It will be whenever my father wills it lady Bryan." She said, knowing that it was likely never to be, unless her father had a second son and that seemed very unlikely. And even if he did, he would still see her as a threat. It would take a miracle to get him to see otherwise. _Whether it is by my sex or my blood, I am condemned on every corner. _"I am happy being their sister in the meanwhile, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

But it sounded fake, beneath that beautiful smile, lady Bryan saw the sadness in her eyes. Thomas did too, he had been on the doorway watching the young woman interact with her youngest siblings, and even as she spoke, he could hear the sadness in her voice.

He looked down at his hands. He had gotten into another row, this time over a chambermaid of Her Majesty and her husband who had discovered their affair. His brother said nothing, it was a lowly chambermaid so who would notice but Tom for some reason felt guilty afterwards, something that rarely happened -if ever- to him. Could it be witchcraft? Had the lady Mary bewitched him as her ancestress was said to had bewitched the Yorkist king?

Thomas tore his eyes from the sight and went to his bedchamber. He was losing his time in such folly, the king's eldest daughter was an impossible catch, she would only get him killed. Thomas did not have time to get lost in romantic fantasies, he had plenty of women to chose from, it was time he returned to his old habits and stop this romantic silliness.

Outside Tyene and her cousins heard the sounds of thunder. "Gods damn this English weather. I don't know how you can stand it." Arianne said, laughing as Quentyn surprised Tyene from behind.

"I would have your head cropped my darling cousin if I were not so generous." Tyene responded with amazing calmness.

They ran back inside. Her ladies, nagged her as usual and remarked how she had to change clothes. "I am perfectly fine and until my husband His Majesty comes back you will be subject to my orders." She said soft but firmly then dismiss them.

"Good riddance." Tyene said when they left. "They never let me breath unless the king visits me, and even then I have to hear them giggling like idiots or sighing like love-struck girls."

"They are girls cousin just as you." Arianne said, feeling sorry Quentyn had to return to his chambers.

Tyene gave her a side glance; but Arianne nudged her shoulder and got her to smile for her. She wrapped her arms around her thin waist. "When are you and the king planning to have your next child? Hmm?"

"Stop it. The king doesn't come to me unless he wants to or is not busy."

"You are a liar Tyene, I never thought I'd see the day when the great Katherine of Aragon and Oberyn's daughter grew timid but the day has come." She said with a tint of jest in her voice but then she turned serious. "Our fathers want what is best for us, but neither knows us well. You want freedom, I want freedom, how about we form a pact? Just you, me, and the rest of your siblings?"

"What does the great Arianne have in mind?" Tyene said, staring elsewhere, not sounding in the least bit interested.

"Mock me if you want. But you are aware of Dornish law are you not?" Arianne whispered in her ear, using one of the many languages that her Septa had taught them, that was not known in Europe. "All we need is Oakheart is allegiance and he is already mine, so that next part is easy. Then convince Myrcella she is the rightful heir and after that, put your daughter in the throne of England above her brother."

"And just how are you planning to do that?" Tyene asked. She could fathom the rest, it made sense and she had entertained that idea with her sisters since Myrcella had come to their shores but skip over Edward when he was firstborn seemed suicide. Nobody in England would back them.

But her sister, adamant as always, gave her the solution. "Edward's mother wasn't crowned-"

"So I have not either."

"But suppose you are. That would make your daughter the legitimate heir to the throne, not Edward or his sisters who are legally bastards."

Tyene was silent.

"Come on, it is a good plan, an eye for an eye. Myrcella as the queen of the seven kingdoms, my brother Trystane as king consort, I as future ruler of Dorne with Quentyn as my heir and you as ruler for your daughter until she comes of age."

It sounded too good to be true. Gods, it did. And it was the perfect vengeance, an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth against everything they'd done to her and her father. But then … she thought ..._What about Mary and Elizabeth._ She had earned their trust, they would hate her for this.

But her cousin's alluring smile reminded her of her own when she said their House's words _Unbent, unbowed, unbroken. _She was Oberyn's daughter, even when their fathers had forgotten their words, they had not. She smiled at Arianne, a serpentine smile that told Arianne all she wanted to hear.

* * *

Four steps ahead. Four plans. That is how the Martells were always ahead of everyone, they intended to win the game of thrones, not come second. If Aegon was who he said he was, and even if he wasn't … he would help him achieve vengeance. _So will his aunt across the narrow sea._ "Captain Hotah how loyal are your men?"

"Loyal my lord." Hotah replied.

"Tell them to send a small regimen, I want this to be done quick and easy, no bloodshed do you understand?"

"It will be done as you command my lord prince. Who will I send them after?"

"The sand snakes." The words came from his lips at once. Oberyn spun around. He had been enjoying a book whilst his brother played chess alone (again), his singer's voice ringing in the background, marred with sadness and regret as he sang of the white and red rose kings.

"Even the little ones."

"My brother's youngest and his mistress are of no harm to us, but they need to be placed into custody nonetheless, someone can use them against us. Obara and Nymeria Sand are another story, they need to be guarded before … they try something dangerous." _Before they do something foolish._ He meant to say "Place them in the Spear Tower where they will be safe and my younger nieces confine them here in the palace along with Ellaria"

_The princess will not like this._ Hotah thought. She was close to the, closer thann to her own siblings and if Doran thought them guilty of conspiring, he bet Arianne was guilty too.

"And Arianne?" Oberyn asked, speaking the unspoken question from the captain's thoughts.

"Arianne wil come straight to Sunspear, if she tries something similar we will know and she will be placed at the Sept until I decide what to do with her."

Oberyn's lips pressed so tightly together that Doran thought he would bleed. His brother presumed he knew better than anyone. Twenty years they had been planning, waiting but so far what had their plans done for them? Oberyn's patience was thinning.

"Go at once Captain."

Oberyn sat in the empty chair once Hotah and the others left. "You are playing a dangerous game and you are using my daughter as your pawn."

"We are both playing a dangerous game, and you too have been guilty of using your offspring." Now that Oberyn was here, he arranged the pieces so they could both play the game. Oberyn moved first. Doran didn't miss his accusatory glare.

"When you told Elia she could learn about swords and spears, I was against it but you had to have your way and Elia of course was a natural charmer so she charmed mother's heart who in turn, charmed our father. You have always been reckless and you didn't stop to wait for my plans. You wanted to put that boy Viserys on the throne after you learned of Elia's fate, it didn't matter to you that Rhaegar could still be alive. You had to have your vengeance. Check."

Oberyn moved another piece freeing his king from Oberyn's queen.

"I also dream of her." Oberyn perked his head up. "But she says different things to me." _Accusations of another kind_. "Had Joanna Lannister not die in childbirth or ours, you would have been married to Cersei and Elia to Jaime and we would be facing a war of a diffrent kind. Check."

Oberyn freed himself for a third time and ate his queen with his knight and in a move that surprised Doran, surrounded his king from all corners "Check mate."

"My daughter is in greater danger by the suggestion Arianne made to her and if she doesn't deliver a son it would all be for nothing and what then? Will you force me to watch as another loved one dies because of your Machiavellian schemes?"

Doran smiled a small smile. He told the singer to play another song. _The song of Bessie_.

"Will you?" Oberyn rose to his feet and rolled Doran's chair to him.

"Mother indulged you but that's what mothers do, my wife also indulged Arianne, now I am paying for both their mistakes. You want justice brother or do you want, as I asked your older daughters, vengeance?"

"I want those who have hurt us brought to justice." Oberyn scowled at his brother's open smile.

"You think me a fool like Arianne."

"I never said that."

"You were thinking it. Patience brother, when all the pieces are set we will strike and take from the Lannisters and their English ally everything they love and hold most dear in this world." He backed up, the blanket fell from his legs to the floor. "Leave it." He told Oberyn. "The day will come when their joy as the imp told Cersei Lannister, turns to ashes in their mouth and they will know the debt has been paid."

"What of my daughter? How longer will she suffer?"

"Have you heard the story of Melusine, the river goddess and her horde of lovers?"

"No more riddles Doran, answer the question!"

"Melusin was a fickle creature half fish, half woman, she lured the first Plantagenet into her arms and begot a child, that child founded a dynasty, then she laid with another man and his brood became the counts of St. Pol. Soon those two broods found each other, founded a new dynasty but there was a jealous one, he didn't like the lesser brood taking control of his father's dynasty so he bided his time until the time was right and he removed his nephews from the line of succession. Some say he murdered them, we will never know. But one thing is certain, when he lost his son, his wife, and his crown, a curse was placed on the new king, that no firstborn would survive him and his sons and son's sons will know no joy '_until his line dies out.'_ Henry Tudor's line has been infertile since his firstborn died, and his son has not had much success bringing his dynasty male heirs in comparison with other kings." _Every wife and woman he beds brings him a horde of children but they all die right away._ His spies told him. "I don't believe in curses, never have but there is power in king's blood the red priests your daughters Nym and Tyene used to frequent, say. Before you left Merwyn ran into one of them, he told him of snake blood. _Viper's blood on snake's blood._ You took your daughters when they were too young to have any use of reason to them and baptized them with your blood. Why is that? I can understand Nym, her mother belongs to one of the noblest Houses in Volantis, her grandparents are staunch followers of the red god, but Tyene?" He tilted his head sideways, giving him a curious look. "Why her? What was it you feared?"

"Nothing."

"You lie. You have not spent all these years studying not to know that the power in a witch's curse is greater than Valyrian steel." He pushed his chair forward. "Melusine's curse would affect you as well, she is a jealous creature who loves and yet punishes her descendants at the same time and Katherine of Aragon was a descendant of her through her Lancastrian ancestors. Her betrayal meant that the old river goddess would punish you too for sleeping with the king's wife behind his back."

Oberyn lost his patience. "Henry the Eighth is a fool, a pampered fool. He fooled around with women all the time and made his wife watch as he favored mistress after mistress. Where is Melusine's justice for his wronged wife? If she loves her descendants as the legends claim, she would not stand idly watching every woman that man has suffer loss after loss, heartbreak after heartbreak. I felt no guilt when I bedded Katherine, I loved her and offered her a place as my mistress but she screamed at me, told me she could be nothing more than Henry's wife, then she bore my child and I made her a promise that I would keep our daughter safe." He said hotly. "I took her to the red priests because I wanted a guarantee that river goddess wouldn't take her away like she took so many of her half-siblings away."

"And now she is back in England. The red priests did more than just give her His protection, _viper's blood on snake's blood._ My only regret is that neither Tywin or Tyene's husband will be alive to see everything they love taken away." He grinned after he said the last part of his plan. "Well played brother."

* * *

There was a story Mary's mother read to her when she was little. It was the queen and the knight. A brave knight to rescued a fair princess from an evil Targaryen prince. In the end though, the Targaryen prince won, he killed the Christian knight and succeeded in his quest to marry the fair princess. The story was just that … a story. But Mary always asked her mother if it had any basis on truth, her mother shook her head and said _"No, they're just stories Mary."_

_"Where did you hear these stories mama?"_ She asked.

Her mother's eyes turned sad. _"Where?"_ Mary insisted.

_"Go back to sleep."_ And just like that, she ended the argument and Mary soon forgot about it.

After her sister announced her second pregnancy, she remembered the story. And she ran into her sister's father's mistress, Ellaria Sand. She was a woman of tall stature, black curls that fell below her waist. She was clothed in a golden dress, a very modest one, her sister said in comparison to what she wore at king Joffrey's wedding.

Mary had heard from Tyene how enamoured her father had become after he met her. For five years he courted her, playing the game of cat and mouse only to have her ensnare him, like Anne Boleyn she would not say 'yes' to him until he made her his official paramour. The only difference being, Anne demanded complete fidelity and Mary's mother's crown, while Ellaria only cared about his heart. Women and men, Tyene told her she said, they could both share.

Mary was certain she would hate her, and why not? She reminded her of Anne, but the woman had been surprisingly sweet. She and her man-servant presented her father with her official letters from prince Oberyn and then met with them, giving the Tudor sisters and her stepdaughter a kiss on each cheek then handed Oberyn's presents for them.

Elizabeth and her were taken with her, the same could not be said for Tyene. She kept a calm expression, betraying nothing but she and Elizabeth could see through her anger in her sapphire eyes.

"Your uncle is very happy to hear about your new arrival. He sends you this ring as a sign of peace between both our countries."

"Tell my uncle We are grateful for his kindness and We shall repay his kindness in equal measure."

Ellaria raised an eyebrow. She was surprised to hear Tyene use the royal 'We'.Oberyn's fourth daughter was always mysterious, the more elusive of the sand snakes. _And the more dangerous._ Obara, you knew what to expect. Nymeria had her looks and her daggers, Sarella her books and her band of ruffians but Tyene … with one smile she could win an entire town, earn their trust then stab them from behind.

"When is the little prince due?"

"Mid May." _If the doctors are not wrong again._

"Spring-tide. Your favorite season, you and your father used to play all spring-tide chasing hares and wild beasts. You swore you could hunt better than all your sisters, you remember when Nymeria unhorsed you?"

"I do and I unhorsed her back." Tyene and Ellaria shared a smile. She dismissed Mary and the rest of her ladies, including her youngest stepdaughter.

"How is my father?"

"Oberyn is strong as always, he's tried to come but your uncle remains firm." Ellaria said. "He misses you."

Tyene swallowed. _**Miss.**__If he really missed me he would've been here by now. _

Ellaria sensed her discomfort. Being pregnant four times, she knew what it was like and how emotions got in the way of clear thinking. "He has been writing to you every day, inquiring about your health and your daughter's. He hasn't abandoned you."

"Yet." She said tightly.

"He fought your uncle Doran when we got to Dorne and before that Tywin Lannister, he was ready to take both men's eyes out.

"Then where is he?" She demanded, her tone calm but her eyes showed her frustration. "I gave birth the Christian way in a room with closed windows and wrapped in the finest gown my uncle gave me." _Because Henry thought very little of my family, and he wanted to see the last vestige of my country soaked in blood with the blood of his offspring. _A cruel reminder of her new status, from loving daughter, to submissive wife.

"I waited for his letters to come, they never did. I asked for his presence, he never came and in his place Henry and my uncle sent Quentyn and Arianne."

"Your father's place is in Dorne. He cares for you and all of your sisters but he has his duty to fulfill. When this ordeal is over, you two can be reunited. I promise you on the Mother."

Tyene doubted that, then Ellaria mentioned something that made her rise to her feet. It was one word, one simple word but that word carried weight. _Vengeance._ "But uncle Doran said Dornish law didn't apply to Westeros."

"It doesn't but your uncle wasn't talking about Myrcella. Your uncle is not ignorant of your plans with Arianne to crown Myrcella and take Cersei, Tommen and the Tyrells out of the equation but there was one little flaw in your plan and that is mainly that you two were backing the wrong candidate." Ellaria explained, seeing confusion in the young queen's eyes.

"Explain." Tyene demanded. As far as she was concerned, it was a good plan. Tommen was young and fickle, a youth of two and ten who had fallen over heels for a woman six years his senior. _Cersei can't have that. The sooner she marries him, if she hasn't already, she will take advantage of her new position and replace Cersei's powerbase with her own._ Their plan was simple, create chaos between the two siblings then, when Tommen and Cersei were taken care off, crown Myrcella Queen with Trystane as her consort and the Martells as her council.  
_Everything that Cersei holds dear, _she and Arianne had pondered, _taken by one of her own._

"Myrcella is a bastard born of incest, that alone condemns her."

"Nobody has confirmed that, Stannis is outnumbered and stranded on the North with the Nightwatch, men who have sworn not to take any sides."

"Stannis has his men's loyalty and the golden company, Cersei has a few allies who are with her out of fear more than loyalty. Queen Daenerys across the narrow sea has three dragons and has successfully proven herself to be a good warrior like your ancestress, the first queen Nymeria. If she succeeds in taking Westeros, who do you think she will turn to when she asks who placed Myrcella on her throne?"

"What then is my uncle's suggestion?" Tyene asked, sitting down, folding her hands on top of her skirts, a Spanish style farthingale, blue and silver, the colors she always wore even when she was in Dorne; her bell sleeves falling down, reaching below her knees. In this light she looked like a porcelain doll, the kind that Ellaria's daughters loved to play with. The only thing missing was her snake crown, but that of course would not do with these Christians who considered the animal a symbol of evil. In its stead she wore small silver coronet laden with sapphires and diamonds.

"What our words Tyene?"

"I do not follow."

"Our words. What are our words?"

"Unbent, unbowed, unbroken."

"Precisely." Ellaria said. "They can beat us, torture us, throw us to the lions' den but we will endure. We've always endured. We have suffered many tragedies but that has made us stronger. When this war is over and the darkness devours everyone, we will rise from our enemies' ashes and take back what was stolen from us and your sons," she stared down at Tyene's midsection. "through both Oberyn's blood and your mother's will be kings and queens too."

But Tyene burst out laughing. "Kings and queens! Their older brother is Henry's golden boy and he has two uncles who watch him like a hawk and as soon as his father dies, they will take control of him like wolves that they are and leave my children out into the cold."

"Worry not about the Seymour wolves, your uncle has them all figured it out." She took Tyene's hand and rubbed her other hand on it, a gesture that Tyene always rejected, but now she just shrugged. "Just concern yourself with giving your lord husband what he wants."

Tyene eyed her with suspicion but a sound from behind, her husband's laughter at one of the jokes the Seymour brothers had said, made her turn. _Fool. They both want the crown too bad and he knows it but he cons himself into believing they don't. _The Seymours would be the undoing of this country, they and all their courtier friends would not wait to tear their little prince apart until he was left in pieces, devoid of any soul and turned into their little puppet. One of the brothers stole a glance from her sister who rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her blush, the other seeing his brother do this, nodded his head in assent and gave the closest thing to a smile that he could give her. _Poor foolish sister._ Until now Tyene did not realize that instead of one, she had two Seymour men fighting for her affections. _And like her father, she is too blind to notice it._ Or maybe she did, but like her father conned herself into thinking otherwise.

_They will tear each other to pieces if it means winning her heart,_ or her lands she supposed. In which case, one of them would become more powerful. _That is of course if they do win my sister's heart._

Elia's voice brought her attention back to her. "Your father learned the dark arts from thieves and maesters when he crossed the narrow sea, before he went to the free cities, he travelled to Europe and that is where he met your mother, he never told you but he met her before you were born and was impressed by her courage. Your grandfather wanted to marry your father in spite of her being older, to him but her mother refused because in her eyes he was a heretic. That didn't stop your father from seeing her though, she probably never knew that boy she met prior to having you on her coronation was your father. When he saw how unhappy she was after years of marriage with your husband, he made his presence known and like moth to a flame she fell for him. She wanted to keep you at first because you were just like your sister in everything but your hair color, but she knew that if the king found out, he would kill them and you would be sent to be raised with a lesser noble family, brought up to be ashamed of your parentage."

"She should've done that, I fare no better now." _Forced to be a brood mare to the king, carrying his bastards._

"You are as stubborn as your father Tyene, and your sister. I have seen how good you two get along and if your mother were here, she would be proud but remember who raised you, who cared for you and still does."

"Are you asking me to send Mary to the slaughter?" Tyene asked, feeling very angry at what Ellaria was proposing.

"Of course not, we are not the Lannisters who slay our kin but if you want to get rid of the Seymours, give them or at least one of them what they want. And watch as the two brothers kill each other for their Guinevere." Her eyes pointed to her sister whom Henry summoned so she, Tyene guessed, could hear the joke from Seymour's lips.


End file.
